A storage system of one type includes multiple storage devices that are networked and each of which includes a nonvolatile storage such as a flash memory. Such a storage system can be connected to multiple clients, and a command from a client is transmitted to one of the storage devices.
In such a storage system, commands from a plurality of clients may be directed to a same storage device. In this case, since the plurality of commands has to be processed by the storage device, all command may not be executed in a timely manner. In such cases, the storage device replies with a busy response indicating that the commands cannot be accepted (busy state). Since the timing at which the busy state ends cannot be predicted, when the busy response is replied, non-accepted commands may be repeatedly transmitted until accepted. This repeated transmission of the non-accepted commands may congest data traffic among the multiple storage devices and increase latency of the entire storage system.